For many years, artists have been practicing the art of painting outdoors or on location, also known as plein-aire painting. Until recently, a standard easel has been a wooden French-style easel, which has folding legs and a box attached thereto for holding supplies such as paint and brushes. The easel and the supply box can be collapsed into a box-shape configuration with a handle. With these types of easels, the position of a palette is dependent on the position of the supply box. Also, these easels, which are available in full or half-box size, are expensive, heavy, awkward, and difficult to transport from one location to another.
Today, lightweight tripod easels are a new addition to an artist's tool box. Many artists prefer the tripod easel, since it is lightweight, portable, and convenient to set up and take down. But, the lack of a level, stable area on the tripod easel for the artist's palette and other tools is its main disadvantage. The present disclosure addresses this problem related to the removable attachment of a folding utility tray to a pair of tripod easel legs.
Photographers, both professional and amateur, employ the use of tripods to stabilize cameras and other devices during a camera's image capturing process. Typically, these tripods are lightweight and can be collapsed into a compact size for storage or transport. However, the compact lightweight tripod does not offer a sufficient working surface where a photographer can safely place special equipment that may be used in the photographic process. For instance, a photographer may carry a light meter, log book, multiple lenses, lens filters, cleaning materials, or other equipment that may require quick access to aid the photographer in capturing the best image or series of images for a given situation. The present disclosure addresses, in accordance with at least some embodiments, a solution by providing an adjustable height utility tray capable of being removably attached to the legs of a photographer's tripod.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,857 to Elizer, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference, a removable shelf is disclosed. The shelf is designed for mounting on only one location on two legs of a tripod easel. The removable shelf includes boot-shaped cutouts and a pair of support arms for attaching the shelf to the tripod legs.
The present disclosure provides unique structure, function and advantages not disclosed in the Elizer patent or any other commercially-available products.